Go now, a child of God. Choose well the road you take,
And the decisions you make. Keep in mind always that The God you serve continues to call to you, making you more and more every day into the faithful one God wants you to be.

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

You and Me Collide

I was reading this story “the Dating Coach” written by Brandon Stanton who has a wildly popular website Humans of New York (HONY)  It is a great story.  Brandon is someone I read often.  Check HONY out.  

 This is my favorite part of the article: 

“You know why I find you interesting?” I asked.
“Why’s that?”
“Because you take charge of chaos.” I paused to form my thoughts, then continued: “This city is so random and chaotic. There are so many people, and so many opportunities. But most people just hope that chaos will spin their way. They hope that they will be in the right place, at the right time, and will meet the right person. They hope that if they keep with their routine, they will somehow collide with something good. But you force these collisions. You collide with everything around you. “
“Wait,” said John. “Say that last thing again.”
“You force collisions. You collide with everything around you.”
“I love how you said that. You are really intelligent.” John seemed very sincere. ”I mean seriously, you are like a philosopher. You are definitely somebody I would like to hang out with again.”


“I normally try to validate a person as soon as I can,” said John. “Everyone wants to be validated.”

Brandon didn’t leave NY to find his adventure, he does the same thing John does when he interviews people and takes their pictures; he collides with the people around him, where he lives.  
  
I want to collide with others the same way.  When I was more social I was charismatic and interacted often.  I was used to being the stranger in a room and the person to make others feel at ease and I always found people to be very interesting. Making friends was easy. My life now is more family and work centered. 

Today I examined my greetings with each human interaction and validated each person.  I recognized voices on the phone, called people by name before they introduced themselves and if I talked to a stranger, I wrote their name down immediately so I could say their name when I said goodbye before I hung up.   Validating others is a good practice.

Luci Swindoll’s first chapter in her book, “Doing Life Differently”  is titled, Capturing the Journey.  She told a story about meeting people in a tribe in Africa, and she was so interested in each person, that she did not see the flies, or the dirt, or feel the heat, she just saw the people.  I want to think she saw souls, souls she wanted to collide with. 

I have been wanting to travel to have adventures, but maybe, like the dating coach, Brandon, and Luci,  I am supposed to collide right where I am.  Notice the small things- sometimes small things in someone else’s life – well, they are really BIG. 

A small thing someone might notice about me today; I have pink paint in my hair.  Not a lot, but enough. How can a drop of paint in my hair be something BIG?  I am painting a portrait of my daughter.  Painting is my hobby.  I never paint portraits.  It is my first.  Maybe it will be something big.  Oh the possibilities!


Be joyful always; pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18

Monday, June 17, 2013

What Next?

There is a lingering question that battles with the obvious everyday life that I exist in, and that question is, "what next?"  This is not about the after Earth human existence, this is about the today happens, then what next?  As in tomorrow...
I am increasingly loosing my memory.  I have always blocked out time on purpose, a lot of things (in my opinion) that are not worth remembering, I effortlessly forget.  I do envy people who can remember the 6th grade and the events that happened wherein.  I do not remember such things. In a discussion about roller coasters, I rememberd the last one I rode was in Virginia and I couldn't remember the name of the park, was it Kings Island or Kings Dominion.  Remembering the park has never been very important to me, but I am noticing more and more  these days I am having less memory.  I keep a calendar to mark events and little things to pass the time.  I paint, I read, I create something. In my life there is a void I need to fill. I need to do some things worth rembering.  I gifted myself  Luci Swindoll's book, " Doing Life Differently."
" The key to living a rich and joyful life is to seek out adventure... you choose to do life differently" - Luci Swindoll

I don't have the resources that she had in her life, I only have the expectation of something great happening.


Just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and buildt up in him, strengthened in faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.- Colossians 2: 6-7

Thankful and Grateful for all things - even the loss of things.  Amen.